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Wednesday, May 30, 2018

“Pami, come drink tea with me,” my friend Samir texted me.
It is an invitation I have received on a regular basis since last July when I
first met the Abdo family.

From Damascus, Syria, the Abdos immigrated to America in
January 2017. They brought with them a rich tradition of hospitality. Everyone who
enters their home is welcomed like family.

Samir and Nesrin have four children ranging in age from
8-18. When you enter their home, you are kissed on both cheeks and ushered in
with open arms and wide smiles. And you will never leave hungry—never!

At a recent picnic with the Abdos, another friend of the
family and I were enjoying cold drinks while watching the children play ball.
My husband and Samir were manning the grill and Nesrin had gone to the kitchen to
bring out the hummus Samir and I had made earlier in the day.

“The Abdo’s are the most hospitable people I have ever met,”
Shawn said.

“I know what you mean,” I said. “No matter when you stop by,
they make you feel like it’s a wonderful gift for them to have you in their
home. They are never too busy or too tired to visit with you. They live out
Olive Garden’s old slogan, ‘When you’re here, you’re family.’”

And it’s true. This family makes you feel like you belong. No
matter what they are doing—cooking, homework, studying for the PA driver’s
license, learning ESL, decorating for Christmas, primping for a special
occasion, etc.—you are invited to join in.

The Abdo’s hospitality is a gift from God to those who
receive it. Many scriptures encourage us to open our homes and welcome others
graciously—Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2, 1 Peter 4:9. 1 Timothy 3:2 lists
hospitality as a requirement for being a leader in the church.

Shawn and I agree—the Abdo’s have shown us great examples of
hospitality. We would love to be more like them in this area—to genuinely enjoy
welcoming others to our homes and lavishing them with the gift of our full
attention, as well as a cup of hot tea and a plate of snacks, be it baklava,
cookies, nuts, fruit, tabbouleh, or pita with hummus or baba ganoush.

I think hospitality could be a very effective evangelism
tool—everyone wants to feel they belong. Opening our homes and hearts to others
can build a bridge to the open arms of Christ.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

In his book, Make
Today Matter, Chris Lowney shares that psychologists have learned our “capacity
to persevere” is strengthened by showing gratitude, selfless compassion, and a
strong sense of life purpose.

While I nod in agreement and understanding of gratitude and
compassion, my mind has snagged on that last phrase, “exhibiting a strong sense
of life purpose”. Before I can live out a strong sense of life purpose, it
seems to me that I need to determine what that life purpose is.

The last few days I have pondered those words—"life
purpose”. What is my life purpose?
Who determines my life purpose? Is it something I choose? Am I taught my
purpose by my parents? my teachers? the
church? the world?

As I let those questions swirl through my thoughts, God
whispered passages of Scripture:

“God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ
Jesus, He has created us for a life of good deeds, which He has already
prepared for us to do.” (Ephesian 2:10)

“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and
power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were
created.” (Revelation 4:11)

“And we know that for those who love God, all things work
together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans
8:28)

According to Scripture, it is God who gives us our life
purpose—or rather, His purpose for our lives. He is the one who determines what
that purpose is. But how do we figure out our specific life purpose—the purpose that goes beyond the general purposes
He has given all of us, (obey Him, love Him and others, give witness of Him)?

To find the purpose God has called me to, I must be in tune with God. To be in tune with God, requires
knowing Him better by reading His Word, listening to more mature Christians share
about Him, by talking directly with Him, and by looking for His hand at work
around us.

Perhaps the purpose God has given you is working alongside
others in mission, leading a congregation, mothering children—your own and
others, welcoming people to your home, teaching, organizing functions, or any
of a myriad of purposes God has in mind that go beyond what we can even imagine.

Along with expressing gratitude and selfless compassion, sensing
and confirming the purposes God has called us to will enable us to persevere in
the face of opposition, set-backs, and self-doubt. We will truly be able to “do
all things through Christ who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:13)

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

I stood at the stove, stirring a panful of hamburger, barely
able to see through the tears filling my eyes. “I just want my Erin back,” I
lamented aloud to God.

During our daughter’s senior year of high school, she pushed
all of Dick’s and my buttons, testing every limit we ever set. She deliberately
walked a path she knew was fraught with pitfalls. Dick and I prayed and
disciplined and protected to the best of our ability. I grew bone-weary of the
arguments—and I cried more times than I can count. I missed the relationship
she and I used to have. I longed with all my heart for her to simply run back
into my arms.

Thankfully, by God’s grace, that day did arrive. Our
relationship now is better than ever, due to the living faith in Jesus that we share.
Our only regrets are the miles separating us; we both look forward to those
times when we can physically hold on to one another. In the meantime, we hold
each other in prayer.

With our history in mind, when I read Isaiah 65:2, I
understood, at least on a small scale, how God must have been feeling when he
said, “All day long I have reached out to stubborn and sinful people going
their own way.” (Isaiah 65:2)

God had done everything possible to help the nation of
Israel, the people He had chosen to carry His message to the world. He had
rescued them from slavery, led them through the wilderness, provided them with
judges and kings, gave them victory over their enemies, and blessed them with
growing families, fields, and flocks. And yet they weren’t faithful to Him.
They didn’t obey His commandments, they worshiped statues and foreign gods—and then
grumbled and complained that God had abandoned them!

And yet … He still loved them, still hoped they would return
to Him … still held out His arms to welcome them back.

God’s open arms are also available for us—despite our lack of
thanks for what He has done, our disloyalty, our faithlessness, and the myriad
of other sins we have committed. Whether we have never trusted in Him, or
we have wandered away from His embrace, God is waiting for us. He
holds out welcoming, guiding, loving, forgiving arms to us, yearning with all His
heart, “I just want my child back.”

“I have blotted out,
like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins.

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

“Mom, where is the Scripture that says we are only to pray
about something once? The one that says we don’t need to keep praying about the
same thing over and over,” Erin texted.

“I don’t remember any Scriptures that say that,” I typed
back to her. It turns out that Erin got this idea about prayer from a minister
we heard 20 years ago at a revival. I remember the instance. I also remember
wondering what Biblical evidence he found to support his thinking.

My daughter’s question served as a catalyst to dig into what
the Bible does say about praying for
the same need over and over. As I researched, I actually found just the
opposite to be true.

While Jesus said in Matthew 6:7 not to use a lot of
meaningless, repetitious, words when we pray, (thinking that God will hear because
of how long our prayers are), I always thought He was referring to either
chanting the same thing over and over or praying long, wordy prayers just to
sound impressive. Have you ever been witness to this type of praying?

Being honest, there have been times when I have fought to
stay focused when the person praying seemed to be convinced they had to say the
same thing 15 different ways to make sure God understood. I think this is the hollow,
tedious prayer Jesus was warning against.

Jesus Himself prayed about a need more than once. Matthew
26:44 tells us that Jesus prayed the same prayer three times in the Garden of
Gethsemane. This instance is one of the examples mentioned in Psalm 85:13, John
13:15, and 1 Peter 2:21 that Jesus left us to follow.

2 Corinthians 12:8 shares how Paul prayed three times for
God to take away his “thorn in the flesh”. Paul obviously felt some requests
are worth praying about repeatedly.

In Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow
who repeatedly approached a judge to grant her rights, which he finally did.
Then Jesus says, " Now, will God not judge in favor of his own people who
cry to him day and night for help?" (vs. 7) Sounds to me like God doesn’t
mind when we pray about a need more than once.

My husband Dick, also a pastor, believes God encourages us
to pray over and over about something as a way for us to hear ourselves and
refine what we are really asking. Sometimes what we pray the first time isn't
in line with His will. He can use our time spent praying about the same thing
to help us get a better understanding of what He wants in a situation. If He
keeps saying no, I take that to mean there is something about what I am asking that
needs adjusting, the time isn't right, or there is something God is teaching me
through His "No."

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

As I watched my new friend Peggy whipping together the
dressing for potato salad, I heard her mumble, “I’m forgetting something in
this recipe.”

She closed her eyes and looked heavenward. “Jesus, what’s
the next ingredient?” she asked. “Thank you, Lord!” Smiling, she reached into
the cupboard for an additional condiment.

I watched in amazement. Jesus was so real to her—present
with her in EVERYTHING she did! As the afternoon progressed, I saw, through
Peggy and her husband, more and more evidence that Jesus was right there in the
room with us! He was so close when we prayed, I could feel His presence, too!
That experience was the beginning of my walk with Jesus as a true believer.

Hebrews 11 tells us that God requires each of us to have
faith in Him. The good news is that He will provide plenty of evidence for us
to believe!

In a recent Quiet
Walk devotional, I read these words of encouragement based on John 20:

“Thomas needed to be shown that the
miracle of Jesus' resurrection was really true. God provided Thomas with the
proof he needed. Jesus appeared to Thomas and said, "Reach your finger
here, and look at My hands. Do not be unbelieving but believing." (20:27)
Jesus saw what Thomas needed and gave him sufficient evidence to believe. You
don't have to be afraid of sincere doubt. That doubt can be changed. Just
examine the evidence of Christ's work in the New Testament.”

As I read John 20, I realized that God will do whatever is
needed to prove we can believe in Him! Look at the examples from this single
chapter!

Jesus appears to Mary Magdalen at
the empty tomb and reassures her He has been raised, just as He said.

Jesus appears to His disciples in a
locked room to prove He is alive.

Jesus appears to Thomas and allows
him to touch His wounds to prove He is who He claimed to be.

God had the Bible written so that
anyone who read it could believe.

To this body of evidence, we can add the encounter several
followers had on the road to Emmaus, the Ethiopian eunuch’s salvation
experience in his carriage, and Paul’s conversion on his way to Damascus. God
meets us where we are!

My witness of Peggy’s faith in Jesus was only the beginning
of many ways God has helped me to believe in Him—my father’s salvation, an
alcoholic friend’s changed life, our daughter’s adoption, and the peace we
experienced in the face of our son’s kidney loss, my cancer diagnosis, and Dick’s
unemployment—to name just a few.

How has God proven Himself to you? Still looking for that
proof? Ask God to help you to believe according to the evidence. Like the
father in Mark 9:24, your prayer can be: "Lord, I believe; help my
unbelief!"